The present invention addresses problems presented by conventional user interfaces, for example in consumer electronic products such as telephones, appliances such as televisions, washing and drying machines, ovens, etc. It relates to a process and the configuration of apparatus that can accurately and automatically interpret the user's desired selection after a single action following a sensory prompt. One aspect of the interface of the present invention resides in its ease of use for people who are less technically able. The interface may be embedded inside almost any product.
Applicant is aware of prior art within the field of user interfaces for consumer electronic products, for example interfaces employing voice recognition, graphic touch panels, and intelligent keypads. Such prior art user interfaces for consumer electronic products consist of a broad range of technology mixes. The current trend is to use a more organic style of interface such as voice recognition or graphical interfaces rather than arrays of mechanical buttons. Some devices attempt to guess a user's most probable decisions, making navigating complex decision trees more tolerable. The present invention is derived out of necessity for an easy-to-use interface that, for example, may be embedded in electronic equipment so for example to operate without a keypad or display.
One object of this invention is to provide an alternative method of operating equipment for example such as cellular or wireless telephones or other devices such as equipment which may be operated using binary input devices including but not limited to push buttons, switches, digital signals, microphones, motion sensors, light detectors, rotary encoders, voice recognition processors, or processes, wherein sensory prompts such as audio prompts guide the user through options, and the user responds with a timely binary action to accept or reject the specific option presented during a corresponding time window.